Vintage Coach Photos & Chat

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#6,601
catthecurious said:
People use this term very liberally, imo. I've seen Janice and Willis bags made in 2006 listed as vintage. Sellers obviously don't know the difference between "classic" (which I think would be the most accurate word for those models) and vintage.
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That's why I was asking. I see it used often and sometimes I wonder if it's true.
 
#6,603
soozlz said:
I remember going to antique shows and hearing the term "late vintage". It may have been marketing or a way to give the average shopper some sort of time frame. With that said, I agree, collectors do know what they want.
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For other things with a longer history, there might be more defined periods of vintage. I knew a doll collector who said dolls had to be 50 years old to be vintage. For furniture, 60s stuff might be called "late vintage." I don't really know about other items. Since Coach hasn't been making purses that long, there aren't categories, but in my mind, I think there are 3 divisions: bags made between 1989 and 1996, bags with NYC creeds, and pre-creed bags, including Bonnie Cashins.
soozlz said:
That's why I was asking. I see it used often and sometimes I wonder if it's true.
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Many sellers don't know how to read creeds. Maybe they think vintage is another word for used. Others think they will get more views by using the word "vintage" in their listings. Some buyers don't care if a bag is officially vintage but want an all leather bag, like a Willis. It is difficult to find these without searching for vintage. I agree, classic is the word they should be using, but buyers may not know that.
 
#6,604
whateve said:
For other things with a longer history, there might be more defined periods of vintage. I knew a doll collector who said dolls had to be 50 years old to be vintage. For furniture, 60s stuff might be called "late vintage." I don't really know about other items. Since Coach hasn't been making purses that long, there aren't categories, but in my mind, I think there are 3 divisions: bags made between 1989 and 1996, bags with NYC creeds, and pre-creed bags, including Bonnie Cashins.

Many sellers don't know how to read creeds. Maybe they think vintage is another word for used. Others think they will get more views by using the word "vintage" in their listings. Some buyers don't care if a bag is officially vintage but want an all leather bag, like a Willis. It is difficult to find these without searching for vintage. I agree, classic is the word they should be using, but buyers may not know that.
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That's a great way to compartmentalize the coach eras. I guess I'm just old fashioned. I like to know what I can about an item I'm selling. I would hate to list something as vintage without knowing whether it really is or not. It sort of irks me the word vintage is tossed around as is "Bonnie Cashin".
 
#6,605
whateve said:
For other things with a longer history, there might be more defined periods of vintage. I knew a doll collector who said dolls had to be 50 years old to be vintage. For furniture, 60s stuff might be called "late vintage." I don't really know about other items. Since Coach hasn't been making purses that long, there aren't categories, but in my mind, I think there are 3 divisions: bags made between 1989 and 1996, bags with NYC creeds, and pre-creed bags, including Bonnie Cashins.

Many sellers don't know how to read creeds. Maybe they think vintage is another word for used. Others think they will get more views by using the word "vintage" in their listings. Some buyers don't care if a bag is officially vintage but want an all leather bag, like a Willis. It is difficult to find these without searching for vintage. I agree, classic is the word they should be using, but buyers may not know that.
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There are other ways to break up Coach's timeline too. For instance I personally think of anything between 20-year old vintage and the switch to China production as "classic" to include the all-leather bags that were still made in non-China countries, but that's just personal. But in my own filing system the main dividing line comes during 2006 when Coach switched from 3 and 4-digit style number codes to the 5-number codes, just because it's easier to arrange my photos and files that way.

Another dividing line could even be before and after 1985 when Sara Lee bought the company and started expanding production. Before that, Coach often would go a year or more without adding a single new handbag style. After SL took over, new styles began to be introduced en masse, until we got to the flood of new styles they bring out now.

Frankly, the idea of having to some day refer to all those post-2000 Signature C bags as "vintage" makes me cringe. It seems almost sacreligious. :graucho:
 
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#6,606
I know that there are so many of us who LOVE all things Vintage Coach ~ specifically Vintage Coach by BONNIE CASHIN ~.

Well, the lovely STEPHANIE LAKE has done THE MOST EXCELLENT job by putting this wonderful book together for us all who adore all things ~ Bonnie Cashin ~ which is 'officially launching/being pub' today (April 12th, 2016) and is flying-off-the-shelves already and climbing all sorts of "book lists". Here's the title of the book :

Bonnie Cashin : Chic Is Where You Find It -- by Stephanie Lake

http://www.rizzoliusa.com/book.php?isbn=9780847848058

http://www.amazon.com/Bonnie-Cashin-.../dp/0847848051

I am ever so grateful to Stephanie Lake for putting out this book...she has done such a superb and graceful job of preserving Bonnie Cashin 's Legacy...
 
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#6,611
Here's my latest heart-throb, a NYC Crescent #9235 that I dunked, scrubbed, polished and conditioned. She's the most amazing shade of orangish-red! I decorated her with a flicker feather.
 

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